Archaeologists excavating the site of a major Roman temple in London have found a sealed box containing a white cream still bearing the fingermarks of the person who last used it, nearly 2,000 years ago.

"This is of major significance," said Museum of London curator Francis Grew on Monday.

Smelling 'cheesy' Museum conservator Liz Barham who opened the fist-sized cylindrical tin box for the first time on Monday, in front of the world's media, described the smell from the half-full container as "sulphurous" and "cheesy."

My bet's on a white lead concoction used as a facial cosmetic. That would survive indefinitely - lead carbonate and lead hydroxide are basically stable and would last more or less forever if sealed up. Should be easily determined by analysis.

Otherwise, just the Ancient Roman equivalent of "Oil of Olay". The ancient literature (especially Ovid and Martial and other social satirists) is full of accounts of the various cosmetics used by women, including lots of face creams and "unguents." And I'll bet after a couple thousand years a jar of ANY oil or fat would smell a bit funky . . .

4
posted on 07/28/2003 8:01:18 AM PDT
by AnAmericanMother
(. . . there is nothing new under the sun.)

Perfectly preserved ... A tiny Roman pot found on the south bank of the Thames river and its contents are displayed during a press conference in London. The contents, a white cream still bearing the finger marks of the last owner, are guessed to have a function ranging from a face cream and toothpaste to something smeared on goats before they were slaughtered. Photo: AFP

To produce this cup requires the use of precision punches and dies, especially to hold the fit against the upset ring that serves as a stop seal.

While a similar handworked version would require many hours of labor and could probably be accomplished, the obvious similarity of this photo cup and a much more modern one produced since the machine age is undeniable.

Are we being had here?

24
posted on 07/20/2004 11:06:58 AM PDT
by Old Professer
(Interests in common are commonly abused.)

I don't think we're being had just on the basis of precision engineering.

The Romans used tool & die sets remarkably similar to ours to produce a lot of "precision" items. Chariot hubs, mass-produced items like braziers and torchieres - surgical instruments are another item that look modern - except they're in bronze instead of steel.

On the other thread, I posted a number of similar unguent jars that appear to be "precision engineered". This alone doesn't convince me we're being had.

But it would NOT be the first time that much later artifacts have contaminated earlier strata - usually through the sinking of a well or other shaft and the dumping of miscellaneous trash once the well is abandoned.

Metallurgy should give us the answer. Artifacts can be dated pretty closely by the composition of the metal.

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